Google web services threaten Windows desktop??

Stan Beer posted an article today and indicated that he knew that he was going to get criticized for blogging about it but he felt he must. The folks at iTWire ran another poll and the results say that a clear majority of readers believe that Google web services pose a threat to the Microsoft desktop.  Although, I do question the size of the sample and how it was conducted he did make a few interesting points...

As much as I like Stan and enjoy the overwhelming number of articles he posts, I just don't agree with his arguments on the threat to the Windows desktop.  Although the new Google services are good and in time might become extraordinary, the simple fact remains that folks are not always connected...either by choice or a "glitch" in the network they are attached to.  For example, over the past few days I have been experiencing major irregularities with my Comcast service; without my "stand alone" applications I would have been relegated to doing work in the yard...God forbid!

And yes, I agree that Google's Writely wordprocessor is reasonably acceptable and certainly is easy to use but do you truly believe that for the professional, that will be what they will use...I don't think so.  I do believe that web applications are going to become a trend for many and I also believe that Microsoft will develop web applications that will integrate seamlessly into their stand alone applications.

This will be a very interesting arena to keep your eye on...if I were a betting man, I'd bet that Microsoft will remain on top.  What do you think?  Click the link below to read Stan's article and make a comment here if you want...I think you will find Stan's article interesting.

Source: iTWire - Google web services threaten Windows desktop